Bottle-capsuling machine.



H. C. BRAUN.

BOTTLE CAPSULING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 1017.13.1909.

Patented June 13, 1911.

, a2ac.

TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EENEY` cHAELEs BRAUN, orv vLoNiJoN, ENGLAND.I

BOTTLE-CAPSULING- MACHINE.

BRAUN, a subject of the King of England, residing at 236,1)entonvi1le road, Kings Cross, in the county of London, England, have invented certain new and useful Im? provements in Bottle-Capsuling Machines; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the'same.

This invention relates to improvements of machines employed for attaching metallic sleeves or capsules to thevv necks of bottles, jars and other vessels.

The invention further relates to ments on that classof machines for capsulvbottles or the like whereinthe bottle in afger corking is placed on a suitable stool and raised into contact 'with a device com- Ael() v therein. Runnin freely on such vertical rod is a loose pu ey around which passes a prising rotatingsfarms provided witliburnishing or spinning wheels, which rapidly revolve around the neck of the bottle and spin the capsule on to the top of such neck, such arms being kept pressedinward toward Y the neck! of the bottle by elastic means.

My present invention has for itsobject constructional improvements onk machines of this description and is intended to enable the inward pressure ofthe arms to be more perfectly' regulated to facilitate the withdrawal of the bottle after corking and to enable the-machine to bedriven either'from above or below. v

In my 4machine used to-'x Jcapsuleson bottles,a column or standard rises from a suitable base, and by means of an adjustable collar at the top part is fixed ay block hav-- ing a vertical rod placed at a suitable height band, which also passes around twoguide pulleys mounted von adouble pivoted arm capable of being set in' one of two positions. At the lower end of the vertical rod is a rising and falling loose collar', keptA down in its lowest positlon lby a spiral spring, but free to `move upward on being pressed by lthe neckof the bottle as hereinafter described. Just below the loose pulley and attached permanently thereto, is a fitting,

by preference in the form of aV metal ring having lugs into which areloosely pinne a plurality of arms pendent from the .lugsl improve- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jullie 13, 1911. Application led ovember 13, 1909. Serial No. 527,889.

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it/ known that I, HENRY CHARLES` or tool. These arms with their burnishing y Wheels are drawn in toward the center of the collar by springs or such like means, of

downward and hanging almostto the botl such strength that when the burnishers' come into contact with the capsule covering the neck of the bottle and are caused to revolve rapidly around and upon the capsule, they will spin in and compress the capsule soas to make it conform to the shape and inequalities of the bottle neck, and cause the capsule to hold tightly and firmly on the bottle neck. When at rest or revolving without a bottle Jinserted in the mouth of the collar the burnishing wheels or tools run around on a suitable metal band or steel collar at the lower part of the rising and `falling collar, but as soon' as this collar is' pushed upward, by pressure of the neck of ythe bottle, the burnishing wheels or tools by losing their support are allowed to come in toward the center and press against the lower lportion of the capsule.` They then continue their revolving anduspinning of thecapsule with the result that they sha e such capsule to the form of the neck of t e bottle as before mentioned and prevent its removal without mutilation.

- A suitable means such as springs, leversV or the like may carry the bottle up to the position where its neck enters' the opening in the collar. r l

Provision may be made for covering the wholeor partv of the mechanism to prevent accidents .and any suitable hand, electric, overhead, foot or other power may be used for revolving the burnishing wheels.

In order that this invention may be better understood, lf will now proceed to describe the same with reference to the 'drawing accompanying this specification, 1n whichzyFigure 1 shows a side elevation of a machine constructed according to this invention, partly in section; Fig. 2 shows a section taken on the line A, B, Flg. 1; and Fig. 3 shows a plan of the guide pulleys.

The sameV letters and numerals of reference are employed to denote the same parts in all the vlews.

ais a casting carried on the standard b of the machine. This casting is bored and contains a fixed spindle -c held in position by a than the arms h1 for the purpose hereinafter v .ries a small steel wheel c. Attached at the explained). Each of the arms hand h1 carbottom of the spindle c is a tubular piece m forming a chamber, with a ring n mounted at the bottom thereof so as to revolve thereon, suitable ball bearings being interposed between the parts. The lower part of the ring is su ported by a flange of a member m1 threaded 1nto the tubular piece m.

It will be observed that the arms la. andvh1 have inclined surfaces at p where they come in contact with the outer edge of the ring n.

A collar g is provided at the bottom of the spindle c and inside the top of the itting m to prevent vthe same coming 01T the spindle, and a strongcompresslon spring r 1s provided between the top 'of the fitting m and the underside of the collar f, which keeps the said fitting normally inthe lowermost position.

Each thereto a saddle piece s and around the saddles o f all the pieces isextended or passed a tension Vspring t which tends normally to' press all the arms toward the center. In addition the arms .It are provided with other saddle pieces 6 and extending around these saddle lpieces -is another compression spring 7, preferably somewhat stronger than lthe y sprlng t.

Surrounding the mechanism is a protective casing u provided at the bottom with an oil' gutter o, so formed that a space isleft through which the neck ofthe bottle can be introduced into the mechanism.

Referring to the 'driving arrangement, mounted on either sidel of the castinga is an arm w. These arms 'w turn upon a bolt a.' and can be locked in either of two positions by means cfa pin e passing through holes esi 2 and 3, in thecastin a. This enables the pulleycmounted at t e ends of the arms fw to be put in position either for .an overhead drive as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, or for an under drive as shown in dotted lines. The driving belt 5 passes around th'e pulley e, is twisted under (or over) thel guide pulleys 4 and thence to a power pulley;

18( is a compression spring attached to the collar gand having fixed at the other end a plate 19. v, l

The action 'of the machine will be readily understood. C

Itis of course presumed that any suitable arrangements are provided for holdin the bottle to be capsuled and for pushing 1t up into the required positions, for instance, hand levers, foot levers actuated b y weights of the arms and h1 has attachedl.or springs may be provided or again auto- 12 is one of a pair of pins which engage l75 slots 13 of two pivoted levers -14 on either side. These are connected by a'handle 15. f I

.17 is a treadle connected by means of a pivoted lever to two rods 16 which are pivotally connected to the arms 14. Thus it will v be seen that the bottle can be raised either by hand by means of the handle 15 or by foot by means of the treadle 17.

The bottle being introduced into the proper position with a capsulelarge enough to embrace it loosely, itis pushed up by raising the handle 15 or pressing `on the treadle 17. This causes the bottle to press against the plate 19, thus compressing the spring 18 and causes considerable pressure 90` on the top of the cork, thus preventing any possibility of the capsule bulgingdurin'g the operation of spinning. AThe bottle at the same time pushes up the fitting m which allows the arms h and h1 tobe forced in 95 wardV under the influence of the springs t and 7, until'the wheels o-come in contact with the outside of the capsule and the springs t and 7 being strong enough to over= come the resistance of the metal, the capsule is spun into close contact with the outside of the bottle neck, conforming itself tol the shape of such neck, the springs -t' and 7 allowing the wheels 1 to 'accommodate themselves to any irregularity, as the arms and h1 rapidly rotate under the influencejof the Pulley@ It will be seenthat owing to the particular construction of the mechanism that is on account of the-arms h being longer than the arms 11,1,the` burnishing wheels/l1 carried bythe arms h come first into contact-with theA A outer surface of the capsuling metal commencing the spinning, while the wheels c carried by -the arms h1 afterward take up 115 the work and complete it, thus giving a highly finished appearance to the capsuleV when position on the bottle.

When the bottle isproperly capsuled the stool is lowered, and the fitting m descends .126 under the. influence .of the com ression spring r forcing the lring n against t e sides p of the arms and Itv thus separating the said arms and allowing-the 4nec of the bots l tle to be withdrawn whenthe apparatus will be ready for use with a freshbottle.

Suitable devices may be fitted vfor lubricating the parts. j For instance, inthe vpar- I ticular machine shown in the drawing, a cup is fitted at the top, 'which opens into :iL-13 passage way, furnished with apertures for delivering the lubricant at the required points.

What I claim andv desire to secure by 'Lettersv Patent of the United States of America, 1s:-

l. In a bottle capsuling machine, the combination of a rotatable member, arms of different lengths pivotally connected thereto, burnishing wheels fixed to the ends of the arms, a vertical rod passing through the rotatable member, a tubular piece slidably mounted on the rod, a collar secured to the rodand arranged within the tubular piece, means for holding the tubular piece normally against the collar, a spring pressed plate slidably mounted in the tubular piec, a coil spring passing around the arms tending to force same inwardly, and a rotatable ring carried by the tubular piece for engaging the arms to separate same, substantially as described.

2. In a bottle capsuling machine, the combination of a hollow rotatable member, arms pivotally connected to the rotatable member having inclined cam faces, burnishing wheels fixed to the ends of the arms, a lixed vertical rod passing through the rotatable member, a tubular piece slidably mounted on the rod, a collar secured to the end of the rod and arranged within the tubular piece, a coil spring on said rod for holding the tubular piece normally against the collar, a spring pressed plate slidably mounted in the tubular piece, a pair of coil springs passing around the arms tending to force same inwardly, and a ring rotatably mounted on the end of the tubular piece for engaging the cam facesof the arms, substantially as described.

3. In a bottle capsuling machine, the combination of a hollow rotatable member, arms of different lengths pivotally connected to the rotatable member and having inclined cam faces near theirlower' ends, burnishing wheels fixed to the ends of the arms, a xed vertical rod passing through the rotatable member, a tubular piece slidably mounted on the rod, a collar secured to the end of the rod and arranged within the tubular piece, a -coil spring on said rod and engaging the tubular piece for holding same ,p

normally against the collar, a plate slidably mounted in the tubular piece, a coil spring interposed Vbetween the plate and the said and arranged in alinement, coil springs passing around the arms and seated 1n the saddle pieces tending to force the arms inwardly, a ring rotatably supported by the end of the tubular piece for engaging the cam faces to separate the arms, and a casin inclosing the parts provided with a conica opening for receiving the neck of the bottle, substantially as described.

collar, saddle pieces secured to saidl arms In testimony whereof, I aliix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY CHARLES BRAUN.

Witnesses:

H. D. JAMESON, F. Il. PANDA 

